EXCLUSIVE: 'WHY SHOULDN'T WE ENJOY OURSEVLES JUST BECAUSE THE COUNTRY IS BURNING? SUPER-RICH SOCIAISTS QUAFF CHAMPAGNE IN VENEZUELA COUNTRY CLUB WHILE MIDDLE CLASS MOTHERS SCAVENGE FOR SCRAPS IN THE GUTTER... AND EVEN THE DOGS ARE STARVING

EXCLUSIVE: 'WHY SHOULDN'T WE ENJOY OURSEVLES JUST BECAUSE THE COUNTRY IS BURNING? SUPER-RICH SOCIAISTS QUAFF CHAMPAGNE IN VENEZUELA COUNTRY CLUB WHILE MIDDLE CLASS MOTHERS SCAVENGE FOR SCRAPS IN THE GUTTER... AND EVEN THE DOGS ARE STARVING

Jake Wallis Simons, Imiages by Roland Hoskins

Venezuela's economy was destroyed by 'Chavismo', a form of Socialism, plunging the country into extreme poverty

Most people are starving, forced to scavenge for scraps of rotting food in the rubbish dumps of its capital Caracas

But MailOnline found pockets of incredible wealth in the impoverished city where life is still luxurious for the elite

Meanwhile a 12-year-old scavenges for food and a five-month-old baby with life-threatening asthma goes untreated

Venezuela's super-rich are enjoying lavish parties and gourmet cuisine, while middle-class people are forced to scavenge for food as the Socialist country's economy collapses.

In the opulent Caracas Country Club, where membership costs an astonishing £77,000 – 458 times the average Venezuelan salary – glamorous women in cocktail dresses were seen relishing a banquet of beef and lobster, followed by a colourful selection of puddings.

Meanwhile, in the Petare slum a few miles away, home to 370,000 Venezuelans, ordinary middle-class people were rummaging in stinking piles of rubbish for rotten cabbage leaves, desiccated limes and scraps of fetid meat.

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Exclusive: Against a backdrop of incredible luxury, rich Venezuelans enjoy lavish parties and tables groaning with gourmet food including a banquet of beef, lobster and champagne. Meanwhile the hospitals are so starved of funds they cannot afford toilet paper, let alone medicine

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Opulence: Inside Caracas Country Club, the tables are laden with sweets and chocolates, included Ferrero Rocher and Dime bars, while outside the vast majority of Venezuelans cannot afford to feed their families properly

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Scavengers: Food shortages across Venezuela mean that ordinary middle-class families have been reduced to looking for scraps of food in the gutter and by the side of the road, such as this woman pictured in Caracas as police look on. Vanessa told MailOnline: 'Chavez's legacy is people like me looking for food in the garbage.'